Maybe you don't know who Grant Desme is. I didn't.
Apparently, he was a big-time, promising, up-and-coming baseball player who just announced he's leaving baseball to go into ministry. So why am I writing about sports the day after I wrote about a politician? And what does Grant Desme (or Scott Brown) have to do with you? Or me?
Showing posts with label creator. Show all posts
Showing posts with label creator. Show all posts
Friday, January 22, 2010
Friday, June 26, 2009
The Purpose of a Thing - repost
Who better knows the purpose of a thing than the Very Creator of the thing?
I recently updated the RAM in my laptop. I don't know where I found the courage, but I took off the bottom cover of my computer, yanked out a piece of plastic with a bunch of little blocky squares and dots on it, and replaced it with a piece of plastic that looked almost identical. Things seem to work better now.
I had heard that people of normal intelligence can accomplish this and I frequently declare that, "what one man can do another man can do" (except, of course, hit an iron out of the rough and around a tree like Tiger Woods). I also figured that, now that I am blogging, I should be able to remove the back of my laptop - if for no other reason than to see how my words get to the internet.
If you had handed me that piece of plastic I would have been clueless regarding its purpose. Fortunately I knew it was coming in the mail because I ordered it. If I wasn't expecting it I'm not sure what I would have done with it. It may have ended up under the leg of a shaky table or serving as a really cool bookmark. I probably would have found a use for it. That would have been abnormal use - or abuse. The disconnect with the creator's purpose would have had tragic results.
Happily, it ended up in the place that it was created to function at its best. It's working right now to get these words to you. Humming along (if it hums - I'm sure someone will correct me) and doing what I guess RAM does best.
You know where I'm going with this...
When we understand our design and position ourselves for best use (according to our Creator) we never function better. If we misunderstand our design we accept an abnormal use that is determined for us. We may experience some moments of humming, but extended humming for our highest purpose will remain beyond our reach. You see, the Creator knows what is best.
Scripture says, "Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, “ He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, “ He has no understanding”? (Isaiah 29:16).
When we partner with our Creator in the grand adventure of the realization of our purpose, we not only get closer to doing what we do best, but the journey itself becomes worthwhile as we grow closer to the One Who knows us best.
His will becomes our will.
His mind becomes our mind.
His compassion becomes our compassion.
His strength becomes our strength.
His priority becomes our priority.
His energy becomes our energy.
His anointing becomes our anointing.
His desire becomes our desire.
His peace becomes our peace.
His nature becomes our nature.
His status becomes our status.
His plan becomes our plan.
His destiny becomes our destiny.
His life becomes our life.
His purpose becomes our purpose.
I love My Creator.
I recently updated the RAM in my laptop. I don't know where I found the courage, but I took off the bottom cover of my computer, yanked out a piece of plastic with a bunch of little blocky squares and dots on it, and replaced it with a piece of plastic that looked almost identical. Things seem to work better now.
I had heard that people of normal intelligence can accomplish this and I frequently declare that, "what one man can do another man can do" (except, of course, hit an iron out of the rough and around a tree like Tiger Woods). I also figured that, now that I am blogging, I should be able to remove the back of my laptop - if for no other reason than to see how my words get to the internet.
If you had handed me that piece of plastic I would have been clueless regarding its purpose. Fortunately I knew it was coming in the mail because I ordered it. If I wasn't expecting it I'm not sure what I would have done with it. It may have ended up under the leg of a shaky table or serving as a really cool bookmark. I probably would have found a use for it. That would have been abnormal use - or abuse. The disconnect with the creator's purpose would have had tragic results.
Happily, it ended up in the place that it was created to function at its best. It's working right now to get these words to you. Humming along (if it hums - I'm sure someone will correct me) and doing what I guess RAM does best.
You know where I'm going with this...
When we understand our design and position ourselves for best use (according to our Creator) we never function better. If we misunderstand our design we accept an abnormal use that is determined for us. We may experience some moments of humming, but extended humming for our highest purpose will remain beyond our reach. You see, the Creator knows what is best.
Scripture says, "Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, “ He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, “ He has no understanding”? (Isaiah 29:16).
When we partner with our Creator in the grand adventure of the realization of our purpose, we not only get closer to doing what we do best, but the journey itself becomes worthwhile as we grow closer to the One Who knows us best.
His will becomes our will.
His mind becomes our mind.
His compassion becomes our compassion.
His strength becomes our strength.
His priority becomes our priority.
His energy becomes our energy.
His anointing becomes our anointing.
His desire becomes our desire.
His peace becomes our peace.
His nature becomes our nature.
His status becomes our status.
His plan becomes our plan.
His destiny becomes our destiny.
His life becomes our life.
His purpose becomes our purpose.
I love My Creator.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Partner Perks
When we partner with our Creator in the grand adventure of the pursuit and realization of our purpose in Him, we not only get closer to doing what we do best, but the journey itself becomes worthwhile as we grow closer to the One Who knows us best.
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).
Friday, April 24, 2009
His Overture
God is calling us, I believe, to be the most alive and fully-awake people on the planet. People who pursue our dreams, born of a destiny that He shaped when we were in our mother’s womb.
No loving parent dreams of mediocrity for their child. Neither does God have that dream for you. The very miracle of birth is the fanfare at the beginning of an orchestral adventure that is intended to bring us to a greater knowledge of our Creator and of His plan for our lives. Along the way we encounter Him in all His love and glory and, in that crescendo, we awaken to the fact that the value of our own life has been determined by the price that He paid to buy it back! How could we be so selfish as to spend that life without an all-out pursuit of Him and His purpose for us?
What is in your heart to do? What did your Creator intend for you? Launch out. Go. Cast the net on the other side. Cross over. Lift up thine eyes. Write the book. Sing the song. Enroll. Buy the ticket. Live the composition He wrote for you.
No loving parent dreams of mediocrity for their child. Neither does God have that dream for you. The very miracle of birth is the fanfare at the beginning of an orchestral adventure that is intended to bring us to a greater knowledge of our Creator and of His plan for our lives. Along the way we encounter Him in all His love and glory and, in that crescendo, we awaken to the fact that the value of our own life has been determined by the price that He paid to buy it back! How could we be so selfish as to spend that life without an all-out pursuit of Him and His purpose for us?
What is in your heart to do? What did your Creator intend for you? Launch out. Go. Cast the net on the other side. Cross over. Lift up thine eyes. Write the book. Sing the song. Enroll. Buy the ticket. Live the composition He wrote for you.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Has God indeed said...?
My sense is that we, in the church, are educated beyond our obedience. And that restraint, though necessary, is not the missing ingredient.
What we need is guts.
The electronic PC culture has turned us into tame sycophants, observers, courtiers and attendants, rather than pioneers, pathfinders and persuaders.
From the beginning the God-given mandate was to “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion..." (Genesis 1:28). Brute language that, in today’s culture, seems threatening and presumptive. We are however, for the most part, really nice folks who live decent lives, rather than bold victors with a mission to reclaim the Earth and its inhabitants under orders from our Creator-King.
In eating from the tree, we submitted to another entity who had no interest in seeing us fulfill that mandate. The serpent’s lie in the garden, in the form of a question, is the same lie today... “Has God indeed said…?" (Genesis 3:1).
The subsequent shame and disorientation caused us to cover ourselves, inhibiting our ability to be fruitful and to multiply. It rendered us useless in fulfilling the mandate established for us. Although we had been created in the very image of God, we submitted to a low-life being that lacked the reproductive power and potential of Our Creator. Spiritual vertigo set in and we spun until Jesus came into our lives.
It took the shameless, sinless Son of God and man to redeem us, restoring our glory and re-establishing our mandate, setting our feet upon the Solid Rock. “It is finished” (John 19:30) from the cross and “It is done” (Revelation 21:6) from the throne re-declared the intent of God and countered the question the enemy posed.
"Yes!", we may boldly declare, "God has indeed said".
What we need is guts.
The electronic PC culture has turned us into tame sycophants, observers, courtiers and attendants, rather than pioneers, pathfinders and persuaders.
From the beginning the God-given mandate was to “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion..." (Genesis 1:28). Brute language that, in today’s culture, seems threatening and presumptive. We are however, for the most part, really nice folks who live decent lives, rather than bold victors with a mission to reclaim the Earth and its inhabitants under orders from our Creator-King.
In eating from the tree, we submitted to another entity who had no interest in seeing us fulfill that mandate. The serpent’s lie in the garden, in the form of a question, is the same lie today... “Has God indeed said…?" (Genesis 3:1).
The subsequent shame and disorientation caused us to cover ourselves, inhibiting our ability to be fruitful and to multiply. It rendered us useless in fulfilling the mandate established for us. Although we had been created in the very image of God, we submitted to a low-life being that lacked the reproductive power and potential of Our Creator. Spiritual vertigo set in and we spun until Jesus came into our lives.
It took the shameless, sinless Son of God and man to redeem us, restoring our glory and re-establishing our mandate, setting our feet upon the Solid Rock. “It is finished” (John 19:30) from the cross and “It is done” (Revelation 21:6) from the throne re-declared the intent of God and countered the question the enemy posed.
"Yes!", we may boldly declare, "God has indeed said".
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
His Power Saves You
From Romans 1, "... I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes..." .
I love that the Gospel is the only message we are commissioned to preach (Mark 16:15).
It strips away the religion and the science and the suggestion that God haphazardly saved us as an adjunct event to His Creativity or Sovereignty.
The Gospel is THE POWER OF GOD TO SALVATION. Front and center. Main event. Center ring.
Our redemption is head-and-shoulders above any happening anytime anywhere.
Our redemption means we have a right place in Him. Not a second-level membership, but a fully-redeemed place in the plans and purposes of the Creator of the universe.
I love that the Gospel is the only message we are commissioned to preach (Mark 16:15).
It strips away the religion and the science and the suggestion that God haphazardly saved us as an adjunct event to His Creativity or Sovereignty.
The Gospel is THE POWER OF GOD TO SALVATION. Front and center. Main event. Center ring.
Our redemption is head-and-shoulders above any happening anytime anywhere.
Our redemption means we have a right place in Him. Not a second-level membership, but a fully-redeemed place in the plans and purposes of the Creator of the universe.
"For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Hebrews 2:10-11).
This is not ambiguous language. This is heavy stuff not meant to be misunderstood or watered down.
It means (among so many other things):
- we can know God,
- we can have a relationship with God,
- we are valuable to God,
- we have power and authority over our enemy,
- we have a purpose in the Divine Kingdom.
I hope that encourages you as much as it does me!
Have a POWER-FULL day!
It means (among so many other things):
- we can know God,
- we can have a relationship with God,
- we are valuable to God,
- we have power and authority over our enemy,
- we have a purpose in the Divine Kingdom.
I hope that encourages you as much as it does me!
Have a POWER-FULL day!
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